


Flash forward

by Mimisempai



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Episode Related, Flash Forward, M/M, Seeing the future, Soulmates, Teleportation, how to repare the error of undiscover country
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimisempai/pseuds/Mimisempai
Summary: When Sonny and Rafael met for the first time, as they shook hands, they saw the future of each other.But their future doesn't seem happy... will they be able to change it?
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 35
Collections: Barisi Soulmate Bingo





	Flash forward

**_September 24, 2014 - 10:25 a.m._ **

"Good Morning, Detective... Carisi, right? Olivia told me you were coming to get the warrants. Oh the joy to be the new guy."

"Hi, Counselor. You can call me Sonny."

The A.D.A. took the hand that the new detective was holding out to him.

At this second, time stood still, and Rafael was assaulted by a burst of images with dates, like a film that was running at high speed in his head.

_ February 25, 2015 _

Carisi and Olivia are in his office and they are discussing a current case with animation.

Olivia says, "If the wife knew about it, and she was sneaking those little pills to him..."

Carisi continues with passion, "Yeah, that's assault three. Recklessly causing physical injury to another person, maybe even attempted murder. Am I right, counselor?"

_ November 18, 2015 _

He and Carisi are sitting side by side in a courtroom, while the alleged perpetrator is being questioned by the defence. Carisi writes something in his notebook and slips it to Rafael. 

Then Rafael sees himself and Carisi congratulating each other on the victory, broad smiles on their faces.

And Carisi says, "If that had been a boxing match, they would have thrown in the towel right there.”   
  


_ March 23, 2016 _

Carisi is running through a forest at night, a flashlight in his hand, an anxious expression on his face.

Then he stops and shouts, "Sergeant, they found her! " and then addresses police officers around him, "Move!"

Carisi kneels down beside the body of a young woman who appears to be dead.

With his face devastated, making the sign of the cross, Carisi does not seem to hear the voice of the sergeant speaking to him.

_ May 18, 2016 _

The door of his office opens on Carisi, who has a bright smile on his face. Carisi walks across his office to him and says, "I passed my exam" and throws himself into his arms and kisses him deeply.

_ May 25, 2016. _

Carisi seems to be beside him in a bar, a tender expression on his face. He has a glass in his hand and he toasts him, saying, "To us. May this moment last forever." And Carisi leans towards him..

_ January 4, 2017 _

Carisi, a gun pointed at his forehead.

He says with a tense voice, "I'm a cop like you. We're brothers in arms. You don't have to do that."

The voice of the person holding the gun answers him, "Too late, it's done.”

One shot and Carisi's face is splattered with blood.

Carisi collapses slowly to the ground in a daze.

_ February 08, 2017 _

Carisi's lying in Rafael's bed, naked, the blankets tossing around. Rafael's hand strokes his face. Carisi opens his eyes and says, "Good morning, Rafael."

_ February 07, 2018 _

Carisi sits alone at his desk in the precinct, staring at his phone all the time. Then he dials and puts the phone to his ear and says in a begging tone, "Rafael, please call me back! I haven't heard from you since last night. Olivia told me how hard this case is for you. Talk to me, please. I'm available all night, anytime. I love you, you know it, I am here for you."

_ January 16, 2020 _

Carisi sitting at a desk telling Olivia with a look of self disgust, "I'm writing my letter of resignation. I'm gonna lose this case. I'm done."

Olivia answers vehemently, "Carisi, you're not a quitter. No. It was the first day of your first trial. You fell, but you need to get back in the ring now."

Carisi says to her, lost, "And if I wasn't cut out for it...you know what? it's a good thing Rafael's gone and doesn't see that."

  
  


_ February 29, 2020 _

Carisi's sitting in the bar that Rafael recognized as the one he goes after a tough case.

Carisi is alone over drinks. His face is full of infinite sadness. He looks up at the bartender who has asked him something and answers with a dishevelled smile, "Oh, you mean Rafael? No, he's gone and he'll never come back to sit here again."

And Carisi whispered to himself, "Never again..."

  
  


Then Rafael found himself in the present, still shaking Carisi's hand.

At the same time Sonny had just experienced the same thing.

_ February 25, 2015 _

In Barba's office with Olivia, Sonny tries to convince Barba and Barba interrupts him saying, "Yes, yes, yes. Okay. It pains me to say this, but you're right, Carisi. You're right."

_ November 18, 2015 _

Him and Barba are coming out of courtroom.

He taps Barba on the shoulder and says, "Hey, nice cross counselor!"

Barba looks at him, smiling with appreciation in his eyes, "Little boys? Thank you, it was a tell."

_ March 24, 2016 _

Barba close to him in the middle of the precinct saying to him in a comforting tone, "He came into my office, full of righteous anger, and lied to me, and I doubted myself for doubting him. Do not lose faith Sonny. What they did says more about their faith than it does about yours."

_ May 25, 2016 _

Barba sits next to him in a bar with a drink in his hand and says, "I'm not worried. Not here in such good company." Barba smiles to him tenderly before raising his glass. 

_ February 08, 2017 _

Barba is facing him in an unknown bed, his head rests on his right hand and he looks at Sonny tenderly while passing his other hand over his face. 

_ February 07, 2018 _

Barba is in a hospital room, speaking with a blonde woman in front of a crib with the a baby hooked up to various machines.

The woman seems to want to approach the machines, then collapses, shouting, "I can't, I can't." 

Barba comforts her and tells her out. The he makes a sign of cross as if to bless the baby, with tears in his eyes, and walks towards the machines...

_ January 16, 2020 _

Barba is alone in an office surrounded by paperwork. With his eyes circled in black, he gets up to help himself to a glass of whisky, stands in front of his window, his eyes in the void.

_ February 29, 2020 _

Barba is sitting in a bar. He looks at the empty chair next to him and whispers, "I miss you and I've lost you forever."

Then Sonny is returned to the present. 

  
  


**_September 24, 2014 - 10:30 a.m_ **

He and Barba exchanged a long glance full of questions and then Sonny realized what he had seen.

Rafael suddenly saw the young detective put his hands on his temples, concentrate strongly and then disappear.

What to do when in a minute of time you have connected with your soulmate, you have seen his whole future and your soulmate magically disappears in front of you.

Rafael let himself fall on his chair stunned.

He'd never believed the legend his mother had told him about. It said when you met your soul mate and touched them, you saw their future. He hadn't even let her finish telling her nonsense.

At the same time, Sonny landed in front of the door of the precinct.

Luckily his father had warned him that the day he would meet and touch his soul mate, he would see his future and be able to teleport himself to him and his loved ones, no matter where or when.

Thanks to his many undercover missions, Sonny was good at analyzing things at high speed. He had deduced that he and Barba were going to become an item, but that something had changed the course of things. An event which seemed to have changed their lives for the worse. 

And he was sure, he could feel it, that this event had happened on February 7th in 2018.

He looked at his watch: February 07, 2018. Just in time.

He entered the precinct, almost deserted since it was night. He walked to where he thought his desk was. And was shocked to see himself, or rather his future self. 

He approached slowly. His double was on the phone. 

_ " _ Rafael, please call me back! I haven't heard from you since last night. Olivia told me how hard this case is for you. Talk to me, please. I'm available all night, anytime. I love you. You know it, I'll be there for you. _ " _

He hung up and held his head in his hands.

Past Sonny called softly, "Sonny..."

Future Sonny turned around. He blinked and looked shocked.

"Who are you?" He moved like he wanted to draw his gun.

"Don't be afraid, I am you, you from the past. I don't have time to explain everything. You must believe me. Rafael is about to do something that will have terrible consequences for him and for both of you. You have to come with me, because you're the only one who can stop him." Past Sonny spoke at full speed and without stopping, lest the Future Sonny wouldn't let him finish.

"But how, and where?"

"All I know is he's in a hospital room right now with a blonde woman and a baby."

"Oh my God, Maggie and Drew! I know where he is!" Future Sonny was going through the files on his desk. "There, in that room!" 

He shows Past Sonny a number on the paper. "But that's an hour from here!"

"I'll take care of the transport." Past Sonny put his hands on Future Sonny's shoulders. "Hold on to me!" He concentrated very hard on the destination and they landed in front of the room in question.

They heard voices behind the half-open door and ventured to take a look: it was Barba and the blonde woman talking in front of a crib...

Future Sonny whispered, "Raf..."

Past Sonny put his hand over Future Sonny's mouth, "Shh, not now. We mustn't let them see us."

Inside Barba said, "I'm sorry."

The woman replied in a whisper, "Oh Lord, if only I..." she paused and the continued, sobbing "...could know what's going on in there" as she laid her hand on the baby's head.

"Sometimes when I can't sleep, I...I try to imagine how it is, not thinking. Oh, my God. All he knows is pain. It's so unfair, Mister Barba."

She started crying in front of the crib...

"I'm going to offer Aaron a reprieve." said Rafael.

Maggie didn't hear Rafael and spoke again,

"At five months pregnant, the doctors said there's a good chance he'll be like this."

"Stop torturing yourself, Maggie."

"Aaron wanted me to get an abortion and I'm the one who said we should take our chances. Wasn't I the bravest? Wasn't I the one who took a chance? I did the right thing, and my baby is going through all the pain."

"You shouldn't judge yourself."

"Why the hell shouldn't I? He can't breathe without a machine. He can't eat without a tube. He can't see. He can't hear. I could have avoided this, but I chose to be fair. Why did I choose to be fair? Why can't he die? Why?"

She was sobbing and Barba put his arm around her shoulder.

"He can." Barba said.

Sonny saw the look of understanding between the two and the woman move towards the machine that was keeping the baby alive.

Then she collapsed and cried saying, "I can't, I can't!"

Rafael ran up to her and repeat, "Okay, okay, okay, Maggie, you should go."

"I can't leave him."

"Maggie, please go."

She left the room without seeing the two Sonny behind the door.

Past Sonny pushed Future Sonny , 

"Go ahead, you can do it."

Barba walked over to the crib, crying and making the sign of the cross on the baby.

Then he walked over to the machine.

Future Sonny ran up to him, and grabbed his hand that wanted to push the button.

"Stop Raf! Stop!"

Barba turned to him.

"Sonny? Sonny?" and then trying to shake Sonny's grip

"Let go of me! I've got to do it! Only I can do it!"

"No, no, you don't have to do it. It's not your decision to make!"

"But he's in so much pain!"

Sonny hugged Rafael with all his might.

"I know Raf, I know. I promise you it's not the Catholic talking in me, but it's not your decision to make. Just because Maggie can't do it, it doesn't mean you have to do it for her. It's not your burden to carry!"

"Then whose is it?"

"That I don't know, but what I do know, is that it's not yours. Rafael, do you want to have this on your conscience for the rest of your life?"

"But I can't, Sonny, I can't take this job anymore, every case is tearing my heart out a little more. I can't do this anymore."

"Then stop it!"

"What? Like this?"

"Just like that! You don't have to continue if you're not happy in what you are doing!"

"What am I going to do about Drew?"

"I think you should recuse yourself. Call McCoy."

"But what if he says no?"

"Then quit."

"What?"

"Yeah, quit."

"But what about you? What about us?" "Me? I can keep being a cop if you're not around, or I can work as a lawyer. Nothing will have to change between us. Rafael, you know I love you, and even if you had pushed the button, I wouldn't have stopped loving you. So it's not your resignation that's gonna change anything."

"Sonny..." Past Sonny closed the door as Future Sonny and Barba embraced. He knew the worst had been averted and he hoped that he had succeeded in changing their future...his and Barba's future.

Then he concentrated very hard on the present time and disappeared.

  
  


**_September 24, 2014 - 10:23 a.m._ **

He reappeared right in front of the door of Barba's office. 

For a few seconds Sonny looked lost and shook his head as if he had just woken from a dream. He knocked on the door of the prosecutor's office. He wondered what kind of person he was.

"Come in."

The prosecutor got up from his chair and walked towards Sonny as he entered the office...

"Good Morning, Detective... Carisi, right? Olivia told me you were coming to get the warrants. Oh the joy to be the new guy"

"Hi, Counselor. You can call me Sonny."

The D.A. took the hand that the new detective was holding out to him.

And then time stood still, and Rafael was assaulted by a burst of images, like a movie going at high speed in his head.

_ February 25, 2015 _

"Am I right counselor?"

_ November 18, 2015 _

"If that had been a boxing match, they would have thrown in the towel right there."

_ March 23, 2016 _

With his face devastated, making the sign of the cross, Carisi does not seem to hear the voice of the sergeant speaking to him.

_ May 18, 2016 _

Carisi walks across his office to him and says, "I passed my exam" and throws himself into his arms and kisses him deeply.

_ May 25, 2016. _

One shot and Carisi's face is splattered with blood.

Carisi collapses slowly to the ground in a daze.

_ February 08, 2017 _

Carisi's lying in Rafael's bed, naked, the sheets tossed around him. Rafael's hand strokes his face. Carisi opens his eyes and says, "Good morning, Rafael."

_ February 07, 2018 _

He and Carisi embraced in a hospital room in front of a crib. Carisi said to him, "Come on Rafael, let's go home. You're going to try to get some sleep and tomorrow you'll make up your mind. I'm calling McCoy to tell him that you're recusing yourself."

"But I can't do that. I owe it to his mother to keep this case going."

"Rafael, you don't owe anything to anyone. You're in no condition to react objectively. For me that justifies your withdrawal."

He lets himself be carried away by Carisi

_ January 16, 2020 _

Carisi walks into an office Rafael doesn't recognize. He looks beautiful in a three-piece anthracite suit, and a cheeky gleam in his eyes when he moves towards him. He kisses him lightly and then says to him, handing him something, "Surprise!"

It is a brushed steel plaque on which is written in an elegant golden writing: 

'Barba & Carisi

Attorney-at-law'

  
  


_ February 29, 2020 _

He and Carisi face to face, wearing matching suits. They are under an arch of flowers, Rita splendid in a green suit says to them with a smile on her face, "You may say your vows."

Carisi says to him, holding his hand, "I, Sonny, take you, Rafael, to be no other than yourself. Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, I will respect your integrity and have faith in your abiding love for me, through all our years, and in all that life may bring us."

  
  


Then Rafael found himself in the present, still holding Carisi's hand.

At the same time in Sonny's head :

  
  


_ February 25, 2015 _

It pains me to say this, but you're right, Carisi. You're right."

_ November 18, 2015 _

Barba looks at him smiling with appreciation in his eyes

_ March 23, 2016 _

Barba comforts him,"What they did says more about their faith than it does about yours."

_ May 25, 2016 _

Barba says, "I'm not worried. Not here in such good company."

_ February 08, 2017 _

Barba looks at Sonny tenderly while passing his other hand over his face. 

  
  


_ February 08,  _ 2018

Barba is in the District Attorney's office talking to McCoy with a tortured expression on his face.

"I can't help it. I'm incapable of making a fair decision of any kind. I almost did something bad last night. That's a sign to me that it's time to stop. I'm going to take a year's sabbatical to think about what I want to do with my life. But I know it's not that. You have to accept it. And I think you know it, otherwise why would you make Peter Stone come back."

  
  


_ January 16, 2020 _

He's facing Barba in an unknown office.

Barba smiles fondly at him as he holds a brushed steel plaque on which is written in an elegant golden writing: 

'Barba & Carisi

Attorney-at-law'

And Barba says, "Good morning, Counselor Carisi." before kissing him.

  
  


_ February 29, 2020 _

Barba, his eyes slightly watery,  slides a ring onto his left ring finger and says to him, "Sonny, I take you as my husband, with your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

Then Sonny returned to the present. 

He was still holding Barba's hand.

"Sonny?"

"What?"

"Did you just say I could call you Sonny?"

"Uh... yes?"

"I'm not going to do that."

"Oh..." says Sonny with a sulky pout.

"Not in this office anyway. However if we went for a drink tonight, I might reconsider the question..."

Rafael saw comprehension and anticipation in Sonny's eyes.

"Yes, of course," Sonny replied with a smile on his face.

  
  


**_A few years later_ **

Rafael woke up because of the light that penetrated through the shutters.

Like every morning he hung on to Sonny, like a koala on a giraffe.

That's what Sonny said when he described them. Rafael admitted, he liked to cuddle as long as it was with Sonny and as long as it stayed in the bedroom. 

Outside their apartment, he was still that uncompromising lawyer with fierce and implacable words when it came to serving justice. They complemented each other perfectly.

After a year's sabbatical to think about where he wanted to go professionally, Rafael had decided to become an independent lawyer for for  Civil Rights Litigation

And while he had advertised for an associate, he was surprised to see his lover arrive for the first interview. Needless to say he canceled all the other interviews which were scheduled. 

Sonny's job as a cop had begun to weigh on him and he was no longer satisfied like the early days. That's why he had decided to take the plunge when he heard Rafael talk about his plans.

And for two years they had been running their practice together harmoniously. Rafael never thought he would one day be so fulfilled in both his professional and personal life.

He felt Sonny wake up in his arms.

Rafael leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Thank you."

Sonny turned and stretched out, kissed him on the lips and asked, "What for?"

Rafael straightened up a little, looked him in the eye and said, "For opening my eyes. For staying. For loving me." 

And he took Sonny's lips in a kiss full of promise and happiness for the future.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much Sarahcakes613 for being an amazing beta reader and support !


End file.
